Ji Soo

Dropped: River Where The Moon Rises

| kfangurl

So full disclosure, I didn’t hard drop this show. I just.. wandered off from it, after 4 episodes, and never managed to go back to it.

In the interest of closure, I’m writing a Dropped post, and will describe my experience with the show in this post, just to give you an idea of my impressions of its various working parts. I suppose you could think of this as a First Impressions sort of post; that works too.

If you have more experience with this show than I do (ie, you watched the whole thing, or at least, more than the 4 episodes that I watched), please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, to help everyone else decide if it’s a show worth checking out?

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Ji Soo’s fall from grace: What’s a reasonable response? (Also, Patreon implications for this blog)

| kfangurl

If you’ve been following k-ent news of late, you’d probably already know that there has been a spate of bullying accusations leveled against various k-celebs, with each ballooning into its own scandal.

If you’ve been following k-ent news in the last couple of days, you’d also probably already know that Ji Soo has fallen from grace, and in a manner that is very sudden and quite spectacular. Reactions have been varied, but consistently strong. Most people feel a certain way about this, and feel it strongly.

If you haven’t been following k-ent news in the last of couple days and don’t yet know what I’m talking about, well.. buckle up, coz this one’s a bit of a doozy. 😬

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Dropped: Bad Guys 2 – City Of Evil

| kfangurl

I’m bailing early, again. Hmm.

The thing is, I’d liked Bad Guys quite a bit, and was genuinely curious to see what this spin-off would bring to the table, with its similar premise and different cast of characters.

Would it be just as cool and gritty as Season 1, while being similar-but-different, and would the bad guys be as interesting, I wondered.

Just one episode in, and I just don’t think this one is for me, y’all. I mean, I barely made it through the episode. Eek.

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Review: Strong Woman Do Bong Soon

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

This show’s upsides: a strong heroine; an appreciative, dreamy hero; an adorable OTP with unreal levels of Cute – and several very feel-good earwormy OST tracks.

This show’s downsides: uneven writing; random-feeling side characters; a disproportionately dark side; an extremely insensitive, crass idea of funny.

The upsides battle the downsides just about all the way through, so.. “Your mileage may vary” about sums it up. The 2 Parks are super-duper cute though.

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Flash Review: Doctors

| kfangurl

If there’s one thing that Doctors has taught me, it’s that medical dramas are really not my thing.

I mean, I already knew, going in, that I’m generally not one to get at all excited about medical emergencies and the like.

Still, the positive buzz and high ratings got me curious enough to dive in (sometimes I am too curious for my own good, I think!) – and when I eventually became bored with Show at large, Kim Rae Won’s strong, leap-off-my-screen warmth persuaded me to stay.

His deep velvety voice and crinkly, cozy-toasty smile didn’t hurt either.

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Review: Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

A highly-buzzed, high-profile drama project that boasted strong credentials, a big budget and an even bigger cast, but which ultimately failed to deliver the expected awesome.

Patchy writing, jerky direction & execution, and uneven acting all contribute to Show’s general lack of oomph.

For the tenacious viewer, though, there are small stretches of soapy crack to be had, and quite a lot of pretty to gaze at, for the most part. Lee Jun Ki is mesmerizing and quite wonderful in this, despite his character getting off to a somewhat shaky start.

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Flash Review: Page Turner

| kfangurl

I’m beginning to wonder if this is a Thing with piano-themed dramas.

Like, are they just consistently good? Coz I loved Secret Love Affair, and I really really liked this, and honestly, the only thing they have in common is classical piano. And this, when I’m not even a fan of classical music.

I started on this one when I was in a bit of a drama rut, where nothing that I watched seemed to grab me, and I wondered (all over again, as I always do, when I find myself in a drama rut), if I’d simply watched too many dramas and therefore had become too hardened and jaded to invest my heart in a drama. (Gasp! The horror!)

Well, whaddya know, I liked this one, and right away too. Very quickly into my watch, I was all, OMG I LIKE IT, AND I WANT MORE. RIGHT NOW, IF POSSIBLE.

Clearly, it wasn’t my heart that was the problem, but Dramaland in general! Phew.

The great thing is, this stayed grabby-good through to the end. The only downside? It’s only 3 episodes. Sniffle.

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Review: Sassy Go Go [Cheer Up]

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Sassy wasted no time in stealing my heart, to be honest.

Yes, it’s not very inventive, in that its plot isn’t anything very new, and feels vaguely like a mashup of Angry Mom, Who Are You – School 2015, and Shut Up Flower Boy Band, with a bit of Dream High, and even mild shades of School 2013, thrown in for good measure.

But I genuinely enjoyed all of those shows, and any resemblance, in this case, is not a bad thing. I loved that Show is breezy, and showcases endearing characters and their heart-tugging relationships, and I was effectively smitten for much of Show’s run.

It’s unfortunate that Show loses its footing somewhat, in the last quarter. That made me sad. After everything is said and done, though, I still felt wistful in saying goodbye to these characters, and that definitely counts for something.

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Pure Pretty: Ji Soo

| kfangurl

Like everyone else before me, I first set eyes on Ji Soo when watching Angry Mom. And, like everyone else too, as I observed him on my screen, I soon sat up, opened my eyes wide, and started paying serious attention.

Many times, high school dramas trot out rookies and other relative unknowns to fill their young ensemble casts, and more often than not, the acting talent falls somewhere in the realm of raw, stiff and earnest.

Sure, the rookies tend to be fresh-faced and cute, but they mostly need a lot more experience and practice in the acting department before they’d actually be able to bring a character to life.

Not so Ji Soo. So far from it. Coz not only can Ji Soo act, he’s already shaping up to be the full-package Real Deal.

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Review: Angry Mom

| kfangurl

THE SHORT VERDICT:

Well-written and executed with an assured hand, Angry Mom is a dark horse in dramaland that manages to be engaging, thought-provoking and consistent, in spite of its varying tones and sometimes difficult subject matter.

Kim Hee Sun does an outstanding job as our titular Angry Mom, and the rest of the ensemble cast is pretty excellent as well.

Almost everyone manages to deliver heartfelt, layered characters who feel like real people, and together, they amplify their drama world by making it feel all the more real, by extension.

Hard to watch at times, but so worth the journey.

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